Will Smith has finally found a director for his long in development remake of the 1974 comedy Uptown Saturday Night. Adam McKay is the man picked to be the on calling the shots behind the camera and is currently in negotiations with Warner Brothers for the job. This project has been a long time in coming together. Smith has been developing in for what seems like forever and it was a little over two years ago that Denzel Washington became attached to co-star. Role Models scripter Tim Dowling is the most recent screenwriter to have worked on the project.
The original film starred Sidney Poitier and a bearded Bill Cosby as two friends whose night out at a popular nightclub is interrupted by a robbery. The next day, one of them realize that their stolen wallet contained a winning-lottery and the pair set out to track down the thieves. (Check out the trailer for the original, below.) Smith originally purchased the remake rights to comedy back in 2002, but has not been able to get the project in front of the cameras. Previously, Smith had approached Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence about co-starring in the film.
The plan seems to be for McKay to move over to this after he finishes the recently announced Anchorman sequel. Paramount is pushing for an early 2013 production start for that comedy.
Via Deadline.
